Common Trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

LEGUME FAMILY (LEGUMINOSAE)
MIMOSA SUBFAMILY (MIMOSOIDEAE; MIMOSACEAE)
64. Guaba Inga vera Willd.
Gunbn, the commonest coffee shade tree and nlso The pod is densely brown hairy and slightly
notive or nntt~rnlized in net forests, is ensily dis- curved, few-seeded, not splitting open, with calyx
tinguished by: (1) nlternnte pinnate hairy leaves remaining at bnse. In flower nnd fruit througli the
with 3-5 pnirs of elliptic to oblong, stnlkless, slight- year, but most fruits n pearing in the fall.
ly droopleg lenflets on n viinyd nxis bearing n The snpwood is \v R ~tish, and heartwood pale
minute round yello~r-green g nnd between ench brown to golden brown with longitudinnl streaks
pair; (2) lateral clusters of severnl Inrge whitish or pntches of darker brown often shaded with
flowers with long tllrendlike stamens 21/24 inches green or yellow. The wood is moderntely hard,
long and 3-31/2 inches across but soon nyilting; (3) moderately lienvy (specific gravity 0.59), strong,
hniry pods 4-6 inclies long nnd y2-5/8 inch in dinm- and tough. It is very susceptible to attack by dryeter,
netlrly cylindricnl but 4-ribbed and with 2 mood termites nnd other insects and to decay in
brond lonpit~idinnl grooves, nnd containing white contact with the ground. Rate of air-seasoning is
sweetish edible pulp.
rapid, and nmoant of degrade is moderate. Ma-
Medium-sized evergreen tree becoming 4M0 ch~ning characteristics are as follows: planing,
feet tnll and 1-11/2 feet or Inore in trunk dinmeter turning, boring, mortising, snnding, and resistance
(recorded to 3 feet), with very widely sprending to scrow splitting are good; nnd shaping is poor.
crown of long brnnclies nnd thin foliage. The The wood is used nlmost solely for posts, fuel,
bnrk is grn brown, smoothisli but becoming finely and cliarconl. However, it is suitable for utility
fissured. fnner bnrk is pinkish to brown and furniture, boses, crates, light construction, and
slightly bitter. Twigs nre bromn and tend to zig- genernl cnrpentry.
zng, IVI t11 light colored dots (lenticels) , nnd dense- On lower slo es and along streams this tree
ly brown hniry \\.hen young.
grows very rapi ! ly, producing coffee shade within
The leaves 7-12 inches long are borne in 2 3 years and growing in trunk diameter at a rate
sprending rows on a twig. The nxis 2%-7 inches sometimes exceeding 1 inch per year. Also a honey
long is bromn hni with n pen wing Y4-3A inch plant.
broad between enc 7' 1 pair of leaflets. Leaflets are Common in active and abandoned coffee planta-
2-6 inches long nnd 1-294 inclies wide, larger from tions throughout Puerto Rico except in the upper
bnse to~vard npzx, long- ointed at npex and short- mountain, dry constal, and dry limestone forest
pointed at bnse, not toot 'I' led, thin and slightly con- regions. Con~monest at the northern base of the
vex, the up er surface green, lower surface light lower Cordillern, lower Luquillo, and moist limegreen,
and 6 otli surfaces slightly hairy especially stone regions.
on veins, nnd also slightly shiny.
Pcn~~c ~omsrs.--Carib, Guajntaca, Guilarte,
Flo~vers do not open nt the snme time, but usutllly
only 1 or 2 dnily in each cluster. At damn the
Luquillo, niaricao, Rio Abajo, Susiia, and Toro
flower is fully expnnded, but during the day the Negro.
stnmens nnd style wither. Flower clusters B~UNICIPAI~ITIES WHERE ESPECIALLY COMMON.-
(spikes) are single or pnirecl nt base of a leaf, cons~sting
of severnl stalkless flowers crowded near the
end of n llniry green nxis 1-2s inches long. An kakaE.-~amnicn, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico.
individual flower witli stnmens fully expanded is Also introduced in Cuba nnd Gundeloupe and perwhite
and 2y2-R inches long and 3-3% inches linps elsewhere for coffee shnde.
ncross. A few honrs Inter the flower is greenish, OTHER colrafo~ N~~~s.-guaba del pais, guaba
less thnn .5/4 inch long to end of corolln and 6/10 nntivn (Puerto Rico) ; gunmii (Dominican Repubincli
ncross corolln lobes, wit11 the twisted pnle yel- lic) ; ,quabn (Cubn) ; pois doux, pois sucrin, sulow
stnmens droopine 1% inches or less below. crier, sucrin (Haiti) ; pois doux, pois doux poilu
The brownisll-green h~iely hairy tubular calyx is
cylindricnl, X0-l,$ inch long, and 5-tootlid, often
(Guadeloupe) ; pois doux B pnille (Guadeloupe,
splitting on 1 side; the greenish-yellow corolln
Martinique) .
densely brown hairy, composed of a narrow cylin- Named from muterial collected in Jamaica, this
drical tube about 5/8 inch long nnd 5 spreading species is the one upon which this large genus mas
lobes 1/8 incli long; tlie numerous spreading white bnsed. It has been reported also from Mexico,
threadlike stnmens are united into a tube inside Central America, nnd northern South America but
corolla : and the white pistil is more than 2% inches not by authors of the most recent floras.
long mitli narrow ovnry and very slender style. BOTANICAL smo~~~.-Znqa inga (L.) Britton.